Gourds

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT GOURDS - PAGE 2

Containers full of annual flowers are great for spilling big dollops of color over the front steps or patio in torrid summer, but now we're into a cooler season when most annuals wimp out. Yet that doesn't mean it's time to jam all the containers into the garage until spring, as designer Kathie Stansell demonstrates with this month's version of our "Pot for All Seasons." Stansell of Pasquesi Home and Farm Suppliers in Lake Forest introduced an innovative but easy-to-duplicate twist this month.

The signs of a fall festival are easy to spot. Instead of promoting garden walks or other flowery affairs, September events focus on things like pumpkins and other gourds. And Shermerfest plans on doing some things with pumpkins that may seem out of the ordinary, but not impossible. Why can't bocce ball and bowling incorporate pumpkins? The squash might not possess a perfect round shape, but surely they can roll. When: Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday Where: Village Green Park, 1776 Walters Ave., Northbrook Price: Free; 847-498-3404 or www.northbrookhistory.

Q-My melons are growing nicely but seem to become damaged on the side that sits on the soil. What should I do? -Schaumburg A-Newspaper can be used as a pillow for the developing fruit. It will keep it clean and prevent any soil-borne fungus from damaging the fruit. Q-What is the best time to sow gourd seed, how do I care for the plants, and when is the best time to harvest? -Niles A-It is best to plant the seeds after the danger of the last frost has passed (May 15 in our area)

The pumpkin Tom Ormond is carrying comes from land he has known for all his 31 years. Tom's two young children, his dad and his grandpa have known it all their lives too. The 28 acres in western Illinois' Campton Hills, purchased by Great-grandpa Ormond around 1910, once had cattle. But for more than a decade, vines bearing orange gourds have been growing there. From 8:30 a.m. till dusk every Sunday, Tom picks pumpkins for the farm's owners, his parents. "When you're the kid, that's what you do," he says.

Last year, my garden produced a bumper crop of pumpkins, squashes and gourds. These warty, ribbed, spotted, speckled, striped and misshapen oddities of the fall garden conjure up all sorts of imaginings and lend themselves to carving, piercing, painting, scraping and illuminating to frighten and delight on Halloween. Because mine were so "well formed" in their oddness, and so colorful and so very diverse in size and shape, I used them in a variety of decorative ways to celebrate the arrival of autumn and the approach of Halloween.

Kongoni, "antelope" in Swahili, is an unusual African handicraft shop that opened recently at 2480 N. Lincoln Ave. The name is no coincidence; owners Kim Clark and Dan Vulinovic came to Chicago from New York after spending three weeks visiting western and eastern Africa. Their visit inspired the conservationist couple to open a shop that would be both insightful to the various African tribal lifestyles and a way of preserving their culture. "We really had a strong interest in the African wildlife and environment.

Clear blue skies and crisp cool days are luring us back outside to the spot we abandoned in the summer heat--the porch. Often at this time of year, we discover our porches are stuck in the past. Those pastel seat cushions, the neon-plastic tumblers, that cratered citronella candle, the tired pot of impatiens--none of it feels like fall. It's time for a porch makeover. "People buy things for the porch in summer and expect it to last all year, or they forget about it, and before you know it, it's the holidays," says Wight Flower's Harriet Kirkpatrick, an Atlanta home and garden stylist.

Frances Whitehead's exhibition at the Dart Gallery, 712 N. Carpenter St., is as fresh as any show can be and also as personal. The art grows out of a tradition of working with natural forces as if they were collaborators. But the way in which Whitehead works is quite unlike those artists of the past who have relied on rain or sun or earth or stars to complete their visions. Whitehead is a topiary who grows and trains plants to assume forms she uses in installations. Little is new about the process.

IN THE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN Seed a new lawn or renovate a poor-quality one early in the month (a University of Illinois Extension fact sheet is available; see below). Fertilize established bluegrass lawns. Use a slow-release formula. Plant trees, shrubs, perennials and ornamental grasses. Start the dormant period for your winter-flowering amaryllis. Place the plant in a cool, dark location and let it dry, so the foliage will die back. Keep it dormant until early December and then begin to water it (fact sheet available)

At age 7, Janet Goldenberg discovered how strange the plant world could be. Her mom had brought home plants with intriguing names like pink pussy willow and burning bush to fill the empty yard surrounding her family's new house in suburban Park Forest. On field trips into the neighboring forest preserve, she observed other curiosities--cattails, wild onions and milkweeds. But what really got Goldenberg hooked on bizarre botany was the family's move four years later from Illinois to Florida.